Abstract
Universities around the world and South Africa in particular have been involuntary forced to transit from face-to-face to online learning and teaching as a result of the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Online learning and teaching is classified as the use of digital technology to deliver tuition in synchronous mode, meaning allowing live interaction between the teacher and the learners or asynchronous mode which is basically delays in time of delivery between teacher and learners. However, numerous challenges hinder First Year Students in transiting to the online platform to realising the full potential of e-learning, especially those from disadvantaged schools background considered as under prepared, educationally underprivileged and had little or no access and skills to technology usage prior to their enrolment at the university. This paper introduced a module called First Experience Computer Literacy (FeCOL) to facilitate students transition from face-to-face to online platform at the university. The main objective of this study was to provide students with basics training skills needed in terms of technology-related used to enable them to engage and participate effectively in the online platform. Data was collected among a group of first year students in the department of information technology systems in one rural institution in South Africa. The results show that the majority of learners have not used computers or had experience on technologies for teaching and learning in their previous schools. However, learners showed interest on basic IT training in terms of hardware functionality and software application to assist them carry out their academic tasks effectively. The study proposed that FeCOL should be used as a kick-start module to facilitate first year learners’ transition from face-to-face to online.
Author Information
Munienge Mbodila, Walter Sisulu University, South Africa
Paper Information
Conference: PCE2022
Stream: Learning Experiences
This paper is part of the PCE2022 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Mbodila M. (2022) The Use of Technology to Overcome Transitional Challenges of First Year Students From Face-to-Face to Online ISSN: 2758-0962 The Paris Conference on Education 2022: Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2022.7
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0962.2022.7
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